Teaching Others Is How You Know You've Got It
The final test: Explaining prompt crafting concepts in your own words
Hey Alchemists,
So we did the transfer test applying prompt crafting principles to completely new situations. Taking what you've learned and remixing it for problems you've never seen before.
Today is the final test: Can you teach it?
Because here's what I've learned after years of helping people master new skills: You don't really understand something until you can explain it to someone else.
This isn't just about prompt crafting. This is about how learning actually works.
Why Teaching Is the Real Test
Six months ago, I thought I understood prompt engineering because I could use other people's prompts effectively.
Then someone asked me to explain why certain prompts work better than others.
I froze.
I knew what worked, but I couldn't explain why.
I could follow patterns, but I couldn't break down the principles. I was using prompts, not crafting them.
That's when I realized: If you can't teach it, you don't really own it.
So today, we're flipping the script. Instead of me teaching you, you're going to teach someone else.
The Teaching Challenge
Here's how this works:
Imagine you're explaining prompt crafting to three different people:
Your 65-year-old parent who just started using ChatGPT and keeps getting frustrated with vague responses
A colleague at work who thinks AI is just hype and doesn't see how it could help them do their job better
A friend who's already using AI daily but keeps copying prompts from Reddit and wants to understand why they sometimes work and sometimes don't
For each person, your job is to explain the core principles we've covered in your own words. No jargon. No complex frameworks. Just clear explanations that actually help them get better results.
Note: Please change it to anyone you know if the people I picked dont work for you
Challenge 1: Explaining to Your Parent
The situation: Your parent has been asking ChatGPT things like "Help me with my garden" and getting generic advice that doesn't fit their specific yard, climate, or experience level. They're getting frustrated and think "this AI thing doesn't work."
Your task: Explain why their prompts aren't working and teach them how to ask better questions.
How would you explain:
Why being specific matters more than being polite?
How to give AI the context it needs to help them?
What information AI actually needs to give useful gardening advice?
Write this like you're actually talking to them. Use their language, not AI terminology.
Challenge 2: Explaining to Your Skeptical Colleague
The situation: Your coworker thinks AI is overhyped. They've tried it a few times, got mediocre results, and concluded it's not worth the effort. They see you getting good results and wonder what they're missing.
Your task: Convince them that the problem isn't AI it's how they're using it.
How would you explain:
The difference between asking AI for answers vs. asking it to think?
Why structure matters when you're trying to solve work problems?
How AI can actually save them time if they set it up right?
Make this practical. Show them how it applies to their actual job.
Challenge 3: Explaining to Your AI-Savvy Friend
The situation: Your friend uses AI constantly but gets inconsistent results. Sometimes the prompts they find online work great, sometimes they're useless. They want to understand what makes the difference.
Your task: Teach them how to evaluate and improve prompts instead of just collecting them.
How would you explain:
What to look for in a good prompt vs. a mediocre one?
How to adapt someone else's prompt for your specific situation?
When to add more context vs. when to simplify?
This person already knows the basics, so go deeper.
The Real Teaching Test
As you work through these challenges, ask yourself:
Can you explain it without using my examples? If you're just repeating the stories from this series, you haven't internalized the concepts yet.
Can you create your own examples? Real understanding means you can generate new examples that illustrate the same principles.
Can you explain why it works, not just how? Teaching the reasoning behind the techniques, not just the techniques themselves.
Can you adapt your explanation to different audiences? Your parent needs different examples than your colleague.
What I'd Say (My Version)
Here's how I'd explain the core principle to someone who's new to this:
"Think of AI like a really smart intern who just started working for you. They're capable of great work, but they don't know anything about your specific situation. If you just say 'help me with marketing,' they'll give you generic textbook advice. But if you say 'I run a small bakery, my customers are mostly local families, I want to increase weekend sales without spending money on ads, and I need ideas I can implement this month' now they can actually help you.
The key is giving AI enough context to understand your real situation, then asking it to think through the problem step by step instead of just giving you the first answer that comes to mind."
That's my version. What's yours?
Your Teaching Assignment
Pick one of the three people (parent, colleague, or friend) and write out how you'd explain prompt crafting to them.
But here's the twist: Actually send it to someone.
Find a real person who fits one of those descriptions and explain what you've learned. Get them to try it. See if your explanation actually helps them get better results.
Because that's the ultimate test. Not whether you can write a good explanation, but whether your explanation actually helps someone else succeed.
Why This Matters Beyond Prompts
This teaching exercise isn't just about prompt crafting. It's about a fundamental truth:
The moment you can teach something clearly, you've moved from copying to creating.
Whether it's prompting, coding, business strategy, or any other skill—you know you've mastered it when you can break it down for someone else.
And here's the bonus: Teaching forces you to understand things you thought you already knew.
When you try to explain why context matters, you realize there are layers you hadn't considered. When you create examples for someone else's situation, you discover new applications of the principles.
Teaching doesn't just prove you understand something. It makes you understand it better.
What's Next?
This concludes our 6-day deep dive into prompt crafting:
You now have everything you need to craft prompts that work for your specific situations, in your voice, for your problems.
No more copying templates. No more generic frameworks. Just clear principles you can apply anywhere.
Now I'm going back to mixing topics some technical, some strategic, some personal. Whatever's on my mind and might be useful for you.
But first: Go teach someone what you've learned.
Because that's how you'll know you've really got it.
Drop a comment: Who are you going to teach this to? And what's the one thing about prompt crafting that you now understand that you didn't a week ago?
The prompt crafting series is complete. Now you're dangerous.